1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an illuminated sport/recreation board; and more particularly, to a skateboard illuminated with electroluminescent characters, indicia and/or decorations suited for use during dusk or nighttime hours for enhanced safety.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Skateboarding during dusk or nighttime hours can be hazardous on roadways and/or in neighborhoods where automobiles are encountered. Illuminating characteristics of automobile headlamps generally produce an illumination range of approximately 25 to 50 feet. This illumination range can be significantly reduced by mist, fog, or bends in the road. Despite improvements to vehicle headlights, skateboarders, and the like, are oftentimes not seen by automobile drivers until the distance between the automobile and the skateboarder is small and chances for avoiding contact are significantly reduced. Moreover, skateboarders and other sport boarders, such as snowboarders and skiers, run the risk of colliding into one another due to poor visibility during dimly lit conditions. It would further be advantageous if the sport board included light visibility on the surface thereof so that the skateboarder could readily glance down during skating and access his/her feet positions, while at the same time providing visibility from the underside of the board when the board is in the air during a stunt.
Several approaches devised by prior art workers attempt to provide solutions for these hazardous visibility conditions. These approaches include providing sport boards/skateboards having lighting elements located on the periphery or the side of the board. For example: U.S. Pat. No. 7,048,284 to Seifert discloses an illuminated skateboard including a light string mounted about a peripheral edge of a deck extending between a top surface and a bottom surface of a board; U.S. Pat. No. 6,802,636 to Bailey, Jr. discloses an illuminated recreational board including a plurality of recesses with a transparent cover extending in a peripheral side of a board and a plurality of removable LED's positioned therein; U.S. Pat. No. 5,132,883 to La Lumandier discloses an illuminated railing with a bar of lights appointed for attachment to a skateboard as a bumper; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20040257831 to Liao discloses an illuminating decoration for a skateboard including two transparent tubes with a plurality of light-emitting elements therein that are attached to two lateral sides of a skateboard; and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20050029767 to Chang discloses a skateboard with a plurality of LEDs are embedded in a periphery of the board and are arranged so that when the wheels rotate, light is emitted from the LEDs. These types of peripheral lighting applications on skateboards/sport boards do not provide a significant degree of light for visibility; nor does the peripheral lighting allow the skater to readily assess the exact position of his/her feet in dark or dimly lit surroundings, since the lights are only on the periphery. In such cases, light is only emitted from the peripheral or sides of the board. As a result, the board is not optimally visible from vantage points above the board, or from beneath the board during air-borne stunts.
Various types of sport boards and skateboards having illumination emitting capabilities have been provided wherein illumination means is attached to the underside of a board, thereby only providing illumination directly under the board and not above the board surface. For example: U.S. Pat. No. 4,336,573 to Carter discloses an illuminated skate/skateboard including a person carrying platform having a light source on the underside thereof for underside illumination, and wheels formed of translucent material capable of transmitting light generated by the light source; U.S. Pat. No. 5,292,141 to Ekedal, et al. discloses a skateboard comprising riding platform with a rotatable disk for maneuverability supported thereon, and optional front and rear illumination sources mounted within respective housings secured to the underside of the riding platform; U.S. Pat. No. 5,119,277 to Copley, et al. discloses an illuminated skateboard comprising a riding platform having a bottom surface with front and rear housing secured thereto, wherein the front and rear housing each include an illumination source therein operable to provide illumination while riding the skateboard; and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20040100055 to Chang discloses a skateboard having a step board with wheels and a truck unit appointed with a safety alert system underneath the step board and at least one illuminator positioned at an exterior of the truck unit. Like the intended disadvantageous faced by the peripheral lighting applications, these underside lighting skateboards do not provide a significant degree of light for visibility; nor does the peripheral lighting allow the skater to readily see the exact position of his/her feet when dark as the lights are only on the periphery. Light only emits from the underside of the skateboard, and/or the wheels (in limited disclosures), and as a result, the board is not optimally visible from vantage points above the board thereby causing risk of the skateboarder being struck by a vehicle or colliding with another skateboarder.
Other illuminated skateboards provide illumination to more than a simple underside or periphery of a skateboard. However these boards still fail to provide electroluminescent lighting integrated within the board so that a substantial area of the board omnidirectionally emits light therefrom. U.S. Pat. No. 5,513,080 to Magle, et al. discloses a lighting kit that provides indirect lighting for roller skates or skateboards by mounting a lighting assembly under the shoe section of the skate or underside of the skateboard and providing a light directed down from the bottom of the shoe section of the skate or underside of the skateboard to the floor under the user. Further disclosed are the use of flat EL lamp panels provided for removable attachment to the sides of a skateboard. The flat EL lamp panels are applied to the outside of the board, and therefore may begin to malfunction and lose integrity over time as exposed to inclement weather, rain, snow, etc. Over time the lamp panels would likely become damaged as they may be stepped on or otherwise damaged as they are on the exterior of the board.
Even where illuminated skateboards heretofore disclosed and utilized provide lighting integrated within the board, these devices still fail to provide illumination to a substantial area of the board to virtually omnidirectionally emit light therefrom. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20050102733 to Holmberg, et al. discloses lighted sports equipment comprising a skateboard including a tip portion, a waist portion, and a tail portion, wherein each are selectively illuminable, being responsive to at least one illumination means provided within the skateboard. The tip portion, waist portion, and tail portion may each be constructed at least in part from a translucent material. Despite the use of selective illumination on the tip, waist or tail portion, these devices still fail to provide lighting integrated within the board so that a substantial area of the board omnidirectionally emits light therefrom. The board does not provide for omnidirectional lighting, in that only the top of the board is provided with illumination; while the underside of the board is not.
Notwithstanding the efforts of prior art workers to construct illuminated skateboards/sport boards that provide safety during nighttime use, there remains a need in the art for an illuminated sport board/skateboard that emits a significant quantum of light for optimal visibility and safety. There exists a need in the art for an illuminated sport board that provides emission of light over substantially the entire surface of the board, including light emission from the top and bottom of the board, so that the light is emitted in an omnidirectional manner and is visible from virtually every position. Visibility of the individual using the board would be enhanced if light was emitted, not just from a thin band extending peripherally around a board, but from a plurality of segments located on the top and bottom of a sport/skateboard.